The present invention relates to a step-in snowboard binding in particular; a step-in snowboard binding designed to hold a boot by its sides.
A binding such as this is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,266, the content of which is incorporated by reference. This binding allows the boot to be held firmly when there is snow or ice present on the baseplate and when this snow or this ice melts and the boot tends to drop, the difference in height of the boot is automatically taken up by the binding. Furthermore, the locking element provides a firm grip, without elastic play, and without the jaw having to be acted upon by a powerful spring in order to achieve this. What happens is that the jaw is held pressed against the boot by the locking element, it being possible for this locking to be provided by appropriate shapes, without there being the need to have a powerful spring acting on the locking element. A binding such as this avoids the drawbacks of the bindings of the prior art, such as the findings described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,073, the content of which is incorporated by reference, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,062, the content of which is incorporated by reference.
Other sources disclose bindings with two lateral jaws. A binding such as this is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,524, the content of which is incorporated by reference, for a monoski. Another binding is disclosed in document WO 96/26,774, the content of which is incorporated by reference.
In the binding according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,226, the content of which is incorporated by reference, the jaw is urged by a return spring and the wedge-shaped locking element is also used as a means for holding the jaw in the open position, the jaw pressing against the end of the locking element. This locking element is therefore constantly pressed against the cam of the jaw and, when the boot is being put into the binding, the jaw has first of all to push back the locking element. In the open position, as the cam presses via a rounded portion against an (also rounded) portion of the end of the locking element, wear of the contacting surfaces is likely to cause the jaw to become locked in the open position.
Therefore, what is needed is a step-in binding which overcomes these drawbacks.